Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

City worker who hurled racist slurs at couple is banned from all pubs in central London

Robert Tolley spent six hours drinking before the incident 

Friday 19 October 2018 08:54 BST
Comments
The case was heard at Westminster Magistrates Court
The case was heard at Westminster Magistrates Court (AFP/Getty)

A city worker who hurled racist slurs at a couple has been banned from all pubs in central London.

Robert Tolley, who works in finance, spent more than six hours drinking at a pub for a colleague’s leaving party in central London on 21 February.

As Tolley made his way home after the event, he into bumped into Sheikh Ahmed and his partner Sayema Khanom, who he started pushing and hurling insults at.

He apparently confronted the pair on an escalator at Liverpool Street station and called Ms Khanom a “Kumar prostitute” and Mr Ahmed a “brown dog”, Westminster Magistrates was told.

The father-of-two was arrested and ultimately sentenced to a year-long community order, which included a ban from all pubs, bars and clubs in central London and his hometown of Wiltshire.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Tolley has also been given a curfew that runs for nine weeks from 8.30pm until 4.30am.

“Since you cannot control yourself while you are drinking we are going to try and curb your drinking,” the judge said, as reported by the Evening Standard.

Tolley pleaded guilty to racially aggravated common assault and said he was “deeply ashamed”.

Tolley, who is a divisional director at EC3 Brokers, has also been suspended until the conclusion of disciplinary procedures by his employer.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in